Of Sick Leaders and Mother Hens
by I.Love.Dick.Grayson
Summary: Nightwing gets sick and the team's females are a little too eager to help. Set during the time skip. This should be included in my Boy Wonder series, but I have a very similar request for that series that I'm working on. Fluffy with bits of humor. Cover is my drawing of Nightwing from forever ago. Enjoy!


**AN:**

**I've had this little drabble in my head ever since seeing a piece of fanart that for the life of me I cannot remember where I saw it.**

**This takes place during the time skip, so the characterization will be waaaay off. Also, I have no idea which members joined the team first, but these are the ones who will be in this story:**

**Nightwing, Batgirl, Bumblebee, Lagoon Boy, Mal, Beast Boy, Miss Martian, Superboy (they have broken up), and Wondergirl. Kal is 'evil' and Wally and Artemis recently left the team. M'gann is with La'gaan (ewww) and Mal is with Karen. So basically, the only person missing is Timmy. He hasn't joined yet, but he is Robin. EDIT: gahhh, forgot one of my favs; Jaime! He's not in here either.**

**Again, sorry for the upcoming OOC-ness, and please review!**

**~Zara**

* * *

Nightwing was absolutely exhausted. He'd had a rough week in Blüdhaven- well, even rougher than usual. He'd also teamed up with Bruce, Tim, and Barbara for a few days during that same week, helping out with a particularly large drug bust. And he had been overseeing team training for a few hours a day. On top of all that, he wasn't feeling all too well. Not just because of the exhaustion, either. No, he felt like he was coming down with something.

But for the most part, a pretty normal day in the life of Blüdhaven's finest vigilante. Get up around dawn, train for a few hours in the tiny gym he'd set up in his apartment while ignoring the coughs that wanted to escape him, head to Mount Justice, instruct the sparring sessions until about seven o'clock while ignoring his nagging headache, then head to Gotham, knock out several drug-dealing idiots, return to Blüdhaven around midnight, patrol for a few hours, and then collapse onto bed at around four in the morning. Just in time for around two hours of sleep. Yay!

Right now, he was at the mountain, watching Cassie and Garfield spar without powers. He was standing at the edge of the training pad, forcing his eyes to stay open behind his mask. The other newer team members, including La'gaan, Karen, and Barbara, were standing on the other side of the training pad, waiting their turns. Conner was leaning in the doorway, observing them all, and M'gann was standing with La'gaan. Mal was standing next to him, watching the blonde girl and green boy fight.

On the training pad, Cassie was holding in giggles as Gar accidentally transformed halfway into a gorilla.

"No powers, BB," Nightwing called tiredly, smiling a little nonetheless as Mal chuckled beside him.

Beast Boy quickly returned to his normal form, ducking Cassie's punch. "Sorry, sorry!"

"S'fine," Nightwing said, biting back a yawn. "You're still new to this."

Gar looked relived and Cassie took his moment of unawareness as an advantage, knocking the twelve-year-old off his feet with a sweep kick. The younger fell on his back with an "oof!"

_"Fail: Beast Boy."_

Garfield pouted as Cassie giggled, stretching out a hand to pull the green boy to his feet.

"Good work, Wondergirl," Nightwing complemented as the pair got off the training pad. "BB, don't get distracted by conversations. You can be sure villains will try to get you off your game with them."

"Yes, sir, Nightwing!" the changeling said, saluting their leader. Nightwing rolled his eyes, not that anyone could see it.

"Alright, BG, you and La'gaan are up. Bumblebee'll fight against the winner," Nightwing said, coughing a bit. He rubbed a gloved hand across his chest, trying to get rid of the burning feeling rising there.

"You good?" Mal asked in his deep voice, glancing at the younger boy sideways.

"S'fine," Nightwing said again, realizing a bit too late that he was slurring his words. Gosh, he was tired. "S'just-"

Conner came over then, arms crossed and a skeptical look on his face. He had easily heard their conversation from his vantage point. That, and he had seen Nightwing's slightly slumped posture. Their leader never stood like that.

"Liar," he said bluntly, glaring at the eighteen-year-old. "You're sick."

The others' heads perked up as Nightwing stuttered.

"N-no, I'm not-" He refuted his own statement immediately by falling into a coughing fit that left him drawing in rattling breaths.

"Uh huh," Mal said, now mimicking Conner and crossing his arms.

"Really, guys-"

"I can hear your heart rate- it's too fast to be healthy. And I can hear how stuffy your breath is. And my infrared vision shows your body temperature is higher than normal for humans," Conner deadpanned, looking at the boy he had known for years.

Nightwing sighed. "I'm just tired, haven't had that much sleep since-"

"Oh, you poor thing!" M'gann exclaimed, unlatching herself from La'gaan's arm and flying over. She landed next to the ex-Robin, face anxious. "Are you sick? Are you dizzy? Do you need to lie down?"

Nightwing sighed again, prying M'gaan's hand off of his forehead. "N-"

"Can it, Hunk Wonder," Batgirl said, walking over. She put her hands on her hips, eyes glaring at her best friend. "I know for a fact that you sleep about an hour a day."

"Two, actually," Nightwing muttered as Cassie gasped.

"Oh, that's terrible!"

"I'm tired after _nine _hours of sleep!" Gar added, looking shocked.

"I am _fine, _guys," Nightwing pressed as Karen came over too. The dark-skinned girl raised an eyebrow.

"'Fine' doesn't come with coughing and a fever, honey," she said pointedly.

"I _will_ tell everyone what happened the last time you refused to admit that you were sick," Conner threatened. Nightwing's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't. And I'm _not-_"

"He obviously had pneumonia but _refused _to admit it and ended up on a drip for two weeks after passing out in the middle of a mission. Kid Flash had to drag him out of the building," Conner said flatly, looking at the freshmen.

"That was a long time ago," Nightwing muttered, flushing as Cassie and Barbara giggled.

"That's it," Conner said with a sense of finality. He stepped forward and easily scooped their leader into a bridal-style hold. He frowned as he felt the teen's hot skin.

"S-_Supey!_" Nightwing protested, trying to twist out of the clone's grip.

"Can it," Conner said, heading towards the bedrooms; Nightwing's was right next to his own. The entire team trailed behind them- well, besides La'gaan. He had left, muttering about having other things to do.

Conner punched in the code for Nightwing's room with one hand- the teen had long since entrusted Conner with the numbers.

The doors swooshed open, revealing the simple bedroom. Conner walked over to the bed and unceremoniously plopped the younger ebony onto it. Then, he walked over to the dresser and yanked out a black thermal shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Moving back to the bed that Nightwing was sprawled on, he tossed the clothes over.

"Change," he ordered. "And don't even think about trying to disappear."

With that, the Kryptonian turned and left, the rest of the heroes following.

Nightwing grumbled, getting off the bed while muttering about overprotective clones. Conner had always been very protective of him, even more so when he had been Robin.

_I do feel awful, though, _Nightwing thought to himself as he pulled on the comfy clothing. He decided to leave his mask on instead of replacing it with sunglasses.

He finished changing as Conner banged on the door.

"Done?" he called, voice muffled.

Nightwing scowled, sniffling. "Yeah."

Not a second later, the doors opened again and Conner came in, very closely followed by M'gann, Cassie, Barbara, and Karen. M'gann was holding a cold pack and thermometer, Cassie was holding a pile of fluffy blankets, Barbara had bottles of cold and fever medicine, and Karen was holding tissue boxes and Vicks.

Dick saw Conner smirk slightly as the females pushed him into bed **(AN: lol, what is context?)**. Barbara grabbed his pillows and fluffed them up, sliding them under his head. Cassie took the blankets she was holding and draped all of them over their leader. M'gann was sitting next to her 'little brother', fussing over him and asking him whether he felt nauseous.

Nightwing groaned, sniffling. "Guys, you don't have to-"

"We know, honey," Karen interrupted, handing him a tissue. "But you look terrible."

"Gee, thanks," Dick grumped, blowing his nose. He glared at his supposed best friend*. "I hope you're happy."

"Kinda," Conner said, smirk still in place. "But I have a feeling this is going to get better."

"What-umph!" Nightwing almost gagged as Barbara stuck a thermometer in his mouth. The device beeped and she took it, reading the small numbers.

"One-oh-three?!" she shrieked. "'Wing, what the hell? Why didn't you tell us you had _this _high of a fever?"

"Didn't know," Dick replied honestly, closing his eyes behind his mask. He felt freezing, small shivers running through his body.

"Oh, you poor thing!" M'gann said again, taking more blankets- _where did she get those?-_and tucking around him. "Are you too hot? Too cold? Should I-?"

"I'll go get some Tylenol!" Cassie volunteered, flying out of the room.

"Shut up," Barbara said as Dick opened his mouth. "You _are _taking the medicine."

Nightwing pouted and M'gann smiled sadly, remembering when Robin had been sick years ago. He'd acted just as he was now.

Cassie returned with the medicine and popped two pills into her hand. She handed them to Karen, who also took the bottle of water the blonde girl had brought.

Dick thought the girls would have at least had the decency to let him take the medicine himself but nooooo, Karen moved forward and slipped the pills into his mouth, then lifting the water to his lips.

After that ordeal was over, Nightwing slumped back into his pillows. "Okay, I ate it. Now _please-_"

"Aww, your voice is all stuffy!" Barbara giggled, hands on her cheeks. The other three giggled as well.

"He's _so _adorable!"

"-no wonder Zatanna had the hots-"

"-just want to pinch his cheeks-!"

"Alright," Conner said, moving forward. His usually stoic expression was fighting an all-out grin. "Let him sleep."

"In a bit!" Cassie said, adjusting Dick's blankets.

"We should apply Vicks if he has a stuffy nose," M'gann said seriously, holding the jar of the strong-smelling gel.

"I wanna do it!" Barbara all but squealed, relishing the chance to touch Dick's chest.

"Um, I think I can-oof!" Nightwing's words were cut off as one of the girls yanked his shirt up to his face. He didn't even get to see who, but he had a feeling that it was Barbara.

"No way, you probably do this all the time!" Karen protested, reaching for the medicine.

"All of you have known him longer!" Cassie pouted. "I wanna do it!"

"-no!"

"-give it-"

"Girls," M'gann said, giggling. "Hurry up and decide. He's shivering."

"Why don't all of you do it?" Conner suggested, holding back laughter at the horrified look on Nightwing's face.

The girls all shrieked their agreement and placed their hands inside the jar, scooping blobs of the gel onto the tips of their fingers.

Dick was almost crying as the three girls rubbed his chest, M'gann giggling as she watched and Conner wishing he had a camera.

"Oh my goodness, it's so smooth!" Cassie commented, hand moving in circular motions over Dick's collar bones.

"Not all disgusting and hairy like other guys," Karen added, rubbing the gel onto Dick's neck.

"Done!" Barbara said, applying a bit of the stuff to Dick's nose. "You can sleep now, 'Wing!"

Dick was by now incapable of talking. After all, it was rather humiliating to have your teammates rub medicine onto your chest and face. In response to Barbara's statement, he merely whimpered, quickly yanking his shirt back down and burying his face under his covers.

"Do you need anything else?" M'gann questioned, uncovering the ebony's face to smooth back his hair. Nightwing whimpered again and the Martian took that as a no.

"Sleep well, o fearless leader!" Barbara called as the girls waltzed out of the room. Conner left too, after snorting at the bedridden vigilante's flushed face.

Dick fell asleep quickly, cursing the antics of girls.

* * *

When he woke up, it was to the feeling of something cold on his forehead. He moaned, lifting a weary arm to get rid of the object.

"No you don't," a voice said, and a large hand guided his arm back to the blankets. "You're fever's back up."

"Con?" Dick mumbled sleepily, eyes glassy with fever.

"Yeah," the older boy said. He was sitting on the edge of the bed. "The girls are making you soup."

Dick groaned, lifting his blankets over his head. Conner sighed, pursing his lips.

"Why don't you ever relax?" he murmured, moving a hand to rest on the younger boy's thigh. "You're sick- you're not invulnerable."

"That's not it- they're probably gonna feed me," Dick huffed, uncovering his head. Conner smiled slightly at his ruffled hair.

"Maybe-"

At that moment, Cassie and Barbara came in, the latter holding a bowl of steaming soup and the former holding napkins.

"Well, not as good as Agent A's," Barbara said, sitting down on the bed as Conner got up. "But we tried our best."

"Thanks," Dick said, coughing. He sat up, leaning against the bed's headboard.

"Open up!" Barbara said in a sing-song voice. She shoved a spoonful of soup into his unsuspecting mouth.

Nightwing swallowed with difficulty, scratchy throat burning as the broth went down.

"Thanks, I think," he muttered, accepting the napkin Cassie offered him.

It went on like that for fifteen minutes, until Dick protested that he couldn't drink anymore. The girls asked him again if he needed anything and then left.

Sighing, Dick once again fell into his pillows and let sleep overcome him.

* * *

The next time he woke up, M'gann and Karen were there, Mal standing in the open doorway.

"Oh, did we wake you?" M'gann asked anxiously.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Dick murmured, wincing as his head throbbed. The two females immediately noticed.

"What hurts?" M'gann inquired, hands fluttering unsurely.

"Everything," Nightwing mumbled, and indeed, his whole body was aching.

The next thing he knew, Karen was massaging his lower legs with practiced hands.

"Thanks," Dick said, half-asleep. This girl knew how to _massage._

"No prob, kid**," she replied, moving to massage his arms and shoulders. "Just sleep."

"Mal," Dick called out, a sleepy smirk on his face. "You're girlfriend's groping me. You're not jealous?"

Mal chuckled, shaking his head and turning to leave. "Go to sleep, Nightwing."

* * *

When he awoke for a third time, it was to a fit of coughing. Almost immediately, there was someone holding him up in an attempt to lessen the hacking coughs.

"Just me," Conner assured him, rubbing his back. "For now, at least. The others probably heard you."

Sure enough, the doors opened and all of the team's females came in. Garfield came too, looking concerned for the teen that he considered a role model, if not a big brother.

"Cough medicine!" the green boy said. "Give him cough medicine!"

"No point, BB," Nightwing said, clearing his throat as the coughs finally lessened. "M'fine."

Cassie, who'd already picked up the bottle of said medicine, pouted, putting the bottle back down.

"Need anything?" Barbara inquired. They had all settled onto the bed.

"Sleep," Dick mumbled, burrowing into the covers again. That was when he made his biggest mistake.

He let out a sneeze, and the girls immediately shrieked. Cassie scooped up the tissue box and Karen took the tissue and passed it to Barbara, who passed it to M'gann, who used it to _wipe Nightwing's nose _as if he were an infant.

"Even his sneezes are adorable!" Cassie giggled, blushing a bit when the sick teen glared at her.

It went on like that for the rest of the evening. M'gann feeling his forehead, Barbara trying to force some cough medicine into him, Karen massaging his temples, and Cassie fetching more blankets while Gar, Conner, and Mal laughed in the doorway.

He was never getting sick again. Ever.

* * *

***My headcanon is that since Wally started dating Artemis, Dick grew closer to Conner. I think it's a cute idea :)**

****She's way older than him, isn't she?**

**I'm so sorry for all of this. None of the girls probably act like this. I just wanted to write something.**

**Review, tell me what you thought of it! Hated it, okay-ish,…?**

**~Zara**


End file.
